Solana's SOL Surges to Record High Above $260
The token of late has benefitted from multiple catalysts, including meme coin action, growing DeFi activity on the Solana network and the coming crypto-friendly presidential administration.

Continuing a massive comeback from a crypto winter price collapse of more than 95%,
At press time, SOL was trading just above $263, higher by 11% over the past 24 hours and nearly 360% on a year-over-year basis.
The new record came two years after the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire FTX and Alameda Research, prominent backers of the Solana ecosystem. SOL plummeted to as low as $8 late in 2022 before beginning its turnaround to the current level.
Now having survived 2022's near-fatal blow, Solana is benefitting from multiple catalysts, including bustling meme coin trading and surging decentralized finance (DeFi) activity on the network, as well as increasing institutional interest.
Read more: ‘It’s So Early’: How Solana Is Competing With Ethereum for Institutional Interest
Of that institutional interest, the odds of there soon being a U.S.-based spot Solana ETF have increased greatly with the election of crypto-friendly Donald Trump two weeks ago. Earlier Thursday, crypto foe and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler announced his intention to fully resign from the commission on Jan. 20 as Trump takes office. Also earlier today, Fox News reported on constructive talks between the SEC and possible SOL ETF issuers.
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KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest files for two crypto index ETFs tied to CoinDesk 20

One proposed fund will attempt to exactly mimic the CoinDesk 20, but the other would track the index, excluding bitcoin.
What to know:
- ARK Invest has filed with U.S. regulators to launch two cryptocurrency ETFs tracking the CoinDesk 20 index.
- One proposed fund would track the CoinDesk 20, which provides exposure to major tokens, including bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP, and cardano. The other would track the same index, but exclude bitcoin, by pairing long index futures with short bitcoin futures.
- The funds, which would list on NYSE Arca if approved, aim to offer diversified crypto exposure without direct token custody and follow similar, still-unapproved crypto index ETF proposals from WisdomTree and ProShares.











